Season’s Greetings! On behalf of In Asia‘s editorial board and bloggers, we thank you for your engagement and continued readership throughout the year. We’ll be taking a short break, but will return on January 8. In the meantime, catch up on a few must-read pieces as well as photos that depict some of the most pressing events and issues in Asia throughout 2013.

A new report, “Profile of the Protestors,” was just released from The Asia Foundation’s office in Thailand and presents findings from a short survey of pro- and anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok. The survey, from a sample of 315 respondents,...

Inside Look at Political Divisions in Thailand Bangkok and San Francisco, December 19, 2013 — The Asia Foundation in Thailand today released a report, Profile of the Protestors, which presents the findings of a short survey of pro- and anti-government...

More than one month after typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan), known as the world’s biggest typhoon, struck the Philippines, authorities now estimate that over 14 million people have been affected, including four million displaced. The estimated death toll is at 6,069. The government is now on the hard road to recovery and reconstruction, allocating…

Giving in Vietnam is strongly rooted in its culture and tradition. Tax breaks for rich people who helped the poor were implemented as far back as the 15th century. Today, the public discourse is full of references to community spirit and the philanthropic impulses of Vietnamese. In addition to quoting the musketeers line, “One for all and all for one,” in his address…

One year ago, on December 16, the fatal rape case of a 23-year-old woman in a Delhi suburb shocked the nation, grabbing international news headlines, and mobilized the government and civil society to recognize…

It was Sabita Mahajan’s first time flying out of Nepal. She was a bit afraid and nervous on her way from Kathmandu to New Delhi, India, where she was traveling for an exposure tour for businesswomen, hosted by The Asia Foundation.

Every year, a “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” campaign is held across the globe, including in Mongolia, to increase awareness about this global pandemic. This year in Mongolia, the spotlight was shone on domestic violence…

Research is most useful for development practitioners when it is embedded in the entire endeavor, directing and directed by actions and reflections throughout implementation, rather than being something done initially to design a project and at the end to evaluate it.

“What is the evidence?” This must be the most common question in development programming and policy these days. Donors are pressing practitioners to present evidence that their programming approaches are working – themselves under pressure to show measurable results and the evidence for those.